Kewaunee County cow cast in Packers movie

Reaction, the Ebert family's cow, takes a break between scenes of filming "The Sixty Yard Line." The movie about a Green Bay Packers fan is being filmed in a house next to Lambeau Field.(Photo: Submitted)

Reaction, a three-year-old Holstein cow owned by their children, Jordan and Whitney Ebert, gained a cameo spot in the movie "The Sixty Yard Line," about a Green Bay Packers fan.

The romantic comedy is written and produced by Ryan Churchill and stars Churchill. It is based on the true story inspired by one of Churchill's friends who bought a house next to Lambeau Field.

Churchill is originally from Beloit and has farming roots.

"Farming was a part of my childhood and plays a key role in Wisconsin heritage," he said. "I saw an opportunity to include it in the film."

Reaction's appearance in the film was instigated by Millaine Wells Skoda, who works for WFRV-TV Channel 5 and also serves on the Kewaunee County Farm Technology Days 2017 publicity committee. She heard that a cow was being sought for an upcoming movie and suggested that Ebert Enterprises, who is the host farm for the event, might want to submit an application.

It was Jordan, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who actually filled out the application.

"He said that their cows were well-trained and you can take them into the house," said Terrilynn Hastreiter, a spokesperson for Farm Technology Days.

The Eberts received a call from the show's Los Angeles producers last week.

"It's not every day that you get a phone call to bring one of your cows to be in a movie," said Randy Ebert, Jordan's father.

Renee Ebert, Jordan's mother, said that they picked Reaction because the producers wanted a Holstein and Reaction was one of their show cows.

"The producer said that when America thinks of a cow, they think of a black-and-white cow," said Renee.

In the film, Churchill buys a house next to Lambeau Field the same day he's supposed to propose to his longtime girlfriend. Instead of buying her an engagement ring, he buys the house, which is located at the corner of Stadium Drive and Oneida Street in Green Bay.

They brought Reaction to the house Wednesday.

"It was a very small house," Renee said. She said they had to figure out how to have the cow enter it.

They decided the front door provided the biggest and easiest entrance for the cow. Both Hastreiter and Kristy Pagels, also of the Farm Technology Days Committee, as well as two friends from El-Na farm were on hand to help Renee, Randy and Jordan maneuver the cow in and out of the house for the filming.

If Reaction has any special scenes or lines in the movie, they won't be revealed until the movie debuts in late 2016.

"We'll see how it all pulls together in a couple of months when the movie comes out," Hastreiter said.

Renee said that she enjoyed meeting the film crew and producer from Los Angeles.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," she said.

Karen Ebert Yancey can be reached at kyancey@kewauneestarnews.com, on Facebook at Kewaunee County Star News Facebook, on Twitter at @EbertYancey or by calling 920-559-1235.